1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a portable shelter that is transportable in a truck's load bed and that can be expanded laterally beyond the sides of the truck when the shelter is to be inhabited.
2. Background of the Invention
Shelter structures of the type commonly called "campers" are often designed to be transported and used when mounted in the load bed of a conventional pickup truck. The extreme popularity of pickup trucks, coupled with industry standards on load bed sizes and carrying capacity ratings, make it attractive for manufacturers to design and build campers capable of slipping into the unmodified load bed of a pickup truck. This nominally provides the consumer with a portable recreational shelter that is removable from the truck bed when the truck is to be used for other hauling jobs.
Restrictions on the maximum roadable width of a camper, imposed by motor vehicle regulations, dictate that a truck-mounted camper generally provides little space for one to move around inside the structure. People have taken a wide variety of approaches to overcoming this problem by providing collapsible and expandable camper structures that can be collapsed when driving and expanded when the truck is parked at a campsite. These expandable campers have generally been heavy and have employed awkward mechanisms that made it difficult for the owner to change betveen configurations.
Owners of truck-mounted campers have long been disappointed by the difficulties involved in mounting the camper in the truck bed and in subsequently removing the camper so that the truck can be used for other purposes. Many owners leave their campers mounted in their trucks permanently to avoid these difficulties, but thereby put up with reduced fuel efficiency and restricted garage access due to the added height, width and weight.
The major problem in installing a camper into a load bed is that of supporting the front end of the camper during the process. One arrangement for doing this involves supporting the unmounted camper on two jack stands at its rear and two additional jack disposed near its midpoint, and providing small wheels at the front of the camper to engage the bottom of the truck's load bed. With this arrangement, loading the camper into the truck requires backing the truck up until the small wheels have engaged its load bed, retracting the midpoint jacks and then backing up further until the camper is fully loaded. In addition to requiring a cumbersome loading procedure, this arrangement also requires that heavier objects in the camper be stowed towards the rear to keep the camper from falling forwardly when supported on the four jacks. This, of course, leads to the truck having a mal-distributed load - that is, the load on the truck is distributed toward its rear, rather than being distributed forwardly so as to place the center of load ahead of the rear axle.
Notable among the patent art in this area are the following teachings:
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,935, Semple discloses a camper body comprising a plurality of panels connected along their edges by flexible sheets of material acting as hinges. Semple's camper, when erected, comprises front and rear end walls having gaskets sealing these walls to the top and side portions of the structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,924, Kottke teaches a folding camper for use in the load bed of a pickup truck. The roof of Kottke's structure comprises two panels hingedly attached along the top of the load bed and pivoting between a horizontal position (when stowed for travelling) and an erected position.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,484, Robertson discloses a camper carried in a pickup truck, the camper having sleeping pallets dispo sed outboard of the truck body whenn the camper is expanded so th at substantially the entire load bed of the truck is available as floor space. Robertson's pallet Is hingedly attached along the top of the load bed and is movable between an approximately vertical position when stowed for traveling and a generally horizontal position outward of the truck body when the camper is expanded so that it can be inhabited. Robertson provides a flexible tent-lke covering over the pallet.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,873, Barr et al . teach a pickup camper comprising a panel hinged along a line transverse to the truck body and g en erally running along the rearward edge of the top of the cab. This panel is disposed above and parallel to the load bed of the truck when configured for travelling, and is pivoted into a position generally above the cab and engine compartment when the camper is expanded for use. Moving the panel into the expanded camper position erects a flexible tent generally disposed over the entire length of the truck.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,284, Blank teaches a collapsible cabin that may be carried in the back of a pickup truck. The walls of Blank's portable shelter comprise a plurality of elongated rectangular panels hingedly interconnected along ones of their longer edges.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,310, Yoder teaches a recreational trailer having an expansible box-like section that can be translated outwardly from one sidewall of the trailer when the trailer is converted from its travelling configuration to its expanded configuration.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,070, Mertz teaches an expandable camper carried in a pickup truck, the camper comprising a cap portion and two berth portions interfitted beneath the cap when the camper is configured for travel. To expand the camper for occupancy, Mertz's cap is translated vertically upwards and the two berth portions are translated laterally outwards of the truck body.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,690, Piercy shows sidewall sections pivotally mounted along the sidewall panels of a pickup truck. When disposed horizontally, the sidewall sections provide a closure for the truck's load bed. When pivoted into a vertical position, the sidewall sections act as a supplemental body. Piercy shows a separate top that can be placed over the erected sidewall sections to make an enclosed camper-like body.